On our second day in Dubai we were driven out from
the city center to the coast......
....passing the famous luxury Burj Al Arab hotel,
built on an artificial island.
built on an artificial island.
A little further on, world-famous Palm Jumeirah dominates the view (only really visible in its entirety from the air). Built in the shape of a palm tree, with a trunk and fronds, it is the world's largest man made island.........
....with beautiful villas, condos and apartments, all brand new, elegant, and I'm sure expensive.
At the end of the Palm stands the massive
Atlantis On The Palm resort - just like the Bahamas
version - sandstone pink and stately....
.....with posh shops inside, everything
perfection and gorgeous.
We gals loved looking (JUST looking) at the bags and shoes of course.....
...and here's our fabulous friend Rob checking out the genuine Panama hats....they were fabulous too!
Always time for a Starbucks.
Later, heading back to the city we visited the Camel Museum.....
.....one real camel was munching on the trees......
.....while we opted for riding the quiet, docile kind...Paula and
me above, Bob ready for a gallop below!
Back at the Dubai Mall and Dancing Fountain
we had a very important reservation...afternoon
tea served high above the world!
Dubai's Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, 2,716 feet, making it almost impossible to photograph the total height from ground level when closeup. The rules are strict, even when you are holding very difficult to acquire reservations for afternoon tea! There is a dress code, no shorts, jeans, bare shoulders, open sandals. Our friend Mark was at first refused entrance because he was wearing white running style footwear - Bob explained that Mark had to wear them due to a disability! That necessitated a phone call, a bit of a wait, then we were given the OK and were able to enter the elevator.
We hopped off on the 123rd floor which the elevator reaches in less than 60 seconds! There are 163 floors total. We then walked down a flight of stairs - all the while gasping at the view from the windows - to level 122 for the entrance to the At.mosphere restaurant.
Looking down on the Dubai Fountain in the Burj Lake........
...on the left is the rooftop of the huge Dubai Mall...
....as you can see, even the towering skyscrapers below
looked very small from that height!
Mark, Rob, Kim and Paula - all amazed at the amount of food that kept coming!
Teatime.....with so many delicacies. Sandwiches crammed with fillings such as caviar, truffled egg and cream cheese, marinated tomato, rolls filled with beef, rocket and cheese. Moving on to the sweets, skewers of fresh fruits, an assortment of warm scones served with cream........all served with a 'mocktail' of fruit juices.........I never did see a cup of real tea!
Bob didn't know where to start..........especially as we'd had lunch just a short time before not realizing the tea would be so gigantic!
However, here we were at the top of the world so to speak.........it did make us silly and giddy. Paula and I checked the ladies room and had to get a funny pic.
Looking out toward the Arabian desert from
the Burj Khalifa.
Dubai is an amazing place. Would I return I've been asked.
I might consider a short stay if the opportunity arose.It would be nice to see the many places I missed, more so the older, historic parts, having little interest in shopping malls and entertainment venues.It was so clean
everywhere, the people were polite, and the architecture amazing.
The Burj Khalifa visible between the buildings.
This is the final post on our recent trip aboard the Queen Elizabeth from Singapore to Dubai, stopping in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and India. Five countries, each special in its own way, interesting in its different culture. Colorful, beautiful, spotless, dirty, hot and hotter! Lovely people for the most part. Surprising in many, many ways.
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